Brooke Shields' daughter didn't know her mom had been sexually assaulted until watching Pretty Baby documentary

Brooke Shields’ youngest daughter, Grier Hammond Henchy, is opening up about her experience learning that her mom had been sexually assaulted through watching her 2023 documentary, Pretty Baby.  

“I was learning about things the same time that the world was and I just took it more deeply and personally,” the 18-year-old told PEOPLE. “I couldn't even get through it.”

In the documentary, Shields revealed that Hollywood executive she never named, raped her shortly after graduating college.

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Shields' eldest daughter, Rowan Francis Henchy, was aware of her mother’s assault, but her youngest was not, which took Shields off guard. While speaking with PEOPLE, Shields admitted that she “didn’t prepare” Grier properly for the documentary’s serious subject material. 

“It was a miscommunication,” she said. “I had explained it was an exploration of sexualization of women in my industry but I was naively thinking that because we had such a solid, healthy, fairly normal existence and I’m not completely damaged that she would say, ‘Wow you’ve come through a lot but look where we are today.’”

Shields noted that she tried to cheer her daughter up by explaining that there was a “happy ending” to the documentary, but that Grier responded, “I will never be okay with thinking something bad happened to you." 

Instead, she said that her daughter “felt helpless,” adding, “As a mom, we make mistakes and sometimes we make assumptions.” 

Looking back on the incident, Grier noted that she’s “learned a lot by listening” to her mom and her dad, comedy writer Chris Henchy. She added, "To see the documentary or to see your parents as a public figure that other people have opinions on is just an odd situation."